Ninja
by VannuroRB
Summary: As Yami sets himself up for a new career, he discovers a secret in a blocked up temple, unintentionally changing his life dramatically. Hope you enjoy.


You told me to go wild, so I did :]

* * *

Ninja~

The young male gave a pant as he wiped the sweat off from his forehead, his crimson eyes gazed up at the burning sun above him before an impatient sigh passed from his lips and he continued trekking through the woods once more. His bag barely holding onto his shoulder and his cloak dragged behind him over the dirt causing an unsightly mark around the rim, despite his conditions he continued to walk along the dirt path, hearing the katana strapped to his back clink a little when it hit against his bag.

The further he ventured into the woods the more isolated and lost he felt though he figured that was the point of living so far out in the woods, without any equipment or any sense of direction, anyone wishing to sabotage the training facility would be helplessly lost. It was a genius idea, if he had been given a more direct route to his destination it would have helped him navigate through the woods.

Soon he came to a halt as he stared up at the house in front of him; the wooden structure was built to be as tall as the tree tops, and stood on its own without any protection or defence, even the doors were left open as if they had nothing to fear about. He took in the surroundings cautiously before moving closer to the house, he slipped out of his shoes as he stepped onto the wooden pathway and looked around once more before walking into the first room available to him.

"This is…too strange" He muttered to himself before looking down at the floor.

Even against the Tatami mats he could make out the faint line of string pulled out from one side of the wall to the other, he gave a faint frown and allowed the tip of his toes to step on the tripwire. A small click sounded through the walls making the male draw his katana as darts sprung out of hiding and aimed at the intruder, with one swift movement he hit the darts changing their direction and hitting the side wall instead, he was cautious for a few moments until he heard clapping and turned to see a man walk out from the partitioning and smile at him.

"Well I had my doubts about you" He explained as he crossed his arms over his chest "However you seem to be able to pass before I even take you on".

"That was a test?" He queried slipping his katana back in his sheath.

"Of course. You must be Yami Aten right?" He lightly held up a scroll in his hand "I got the message and was wary on taking on another student".

Yami gave a small nod to show he understood and bowed "You must be the Master".

"Correct" The Master brushed back some lose silver hair before walking into the room "Relax, I haven't set up anymore traps for you. The poison darts were my only test".

Yami could not help but wonder if he was lucky for only having poison darts thrown at him, regardless he slipped his bag off and sat at the given seat across the table from the Master, he gave a small smile and pulled his loose sleeves further up his arm before resting them on the table.

"Now, I can see you are an able young man" He commented "Quick reflexes, a good amount of strength and cautiousness, I'll take you on and train you; however, I train the best ninja's this land has ever seen, I don't take slacking or failure to do a task easily. If you don't see fit to my standards of training, then I will throw you out. Do you accept this?"

Yami gave a nod "Yes, I do".

The Master gave a broader smile and bowed his head "Then welcome".

Yami bowed back in respect "Thank you".

Yami lifted his head when he heard footsteps and turned to watch a shadow walk to the opening, a tall brunette turned to the room and to the Master "Father I-" He cut himself off when he noticed Yami sitting at the table.

"Ah, good timing Seto" He complimented before turning back to Yami "This is my son, Seto Kaiba. Seto, why don't you show Yami the spare room we have?"

Kaiba gave a small grunt as an acknowledgement and turned away to start leading Yami, the male grabbed his bag and pushed himself to his feet to follow Kaiba down the corridor. He took the chance to take in the forest scenery around him, the distant songs of birds went around the trees and the light sparkled through the leaves leaving patterns along the grass, it was no wonder why the home was built there. The place was peaceful and undisturbed by human touch, almost like a utopia.

"This place is amazing" Yami commented as he turned back to Kaiba "You must enjoy living here".

"Hmm…" Was Kaiba's reply making Yami fall silent once again. They stopped once they reached another door; Kaiba pushed the door open to reveal small bedroom quarters with several beds pushed up against the walls, the small rounded window letting light into the room to create a large atmosphere to compensate the small design.

"You'll be staying here" Kaiba announced in case Yami thought it was supposed to be a joke "Along with Marik and Bakura, they should be back by the evening".

"Oh…alright" Yami stepped in further and judging from the personal items stashed under the cramp space of the bed, he took the only remaining bed positioned by the window, he slipped his bag off from his shoulder to ease the weight from his body "Well…thanks".

"Yeah, see you later" He mumbled before leaving the male on his own.

Picking up the hint that Kaiba was not one to converse with strangers Yami shut the door to the bedroom and took the chance to grow accustomed to his new home, relaxing onto his bed as he wondered what his new life would give him.

* * *

Hours passed and the sun soon turned to its blood red colour and began to seep into the horizon, causing the once lush and beautiful trees inhabiting the woods to turn autumn red, the light turned a softer glow colour as it sparkled through the leaves. Two men walked through the crisp evening, feeling the grass and leftover twigs crunch underneath their boots as they carried their weapons and gear through the woods, the blond gave a grunt as he shifted his sheath more onto his shoulder.

"Well that was a fine day right Bakura?" The male queried with slight sarcasm.

"Yeah sure" Bakura muttered as he rubbed over the scratch that ran across his cheek.

"Aww, I think you look quite sexy with a scar" He teased and reached out to lightly stroke over it as well, earning a hiss from the male "Though I have to admit, it does ruin your supple skin…"

"Listen Marik, if you don't shut up about the scratch I'll show you pain by shoving your sword up your ass".

"Oh, touchy" Marik gave a smirk but left the male alone as they approached the house, Marik slipped out of his shoes first and climbed up to the wood before Bakura followed his lead up, he then turned when he heard a door open to see Kaiba lean out only to frown at the sight of them.

"Oh…back are you?" Kaiba grumbled.

"Of course. We'd never leave a job unfinished".

"Shame" Kaiba held the door in his hand "Well go tell father what good little boys you are and introduce yourself to your new friend".

"New friend?" They both repeated but Kaiba had shut the door by then, refusing to answer their question, they turned to each other in confusion before cautiously approaching their room.

They gave a quick glance to each other before Marik slid the door open to peek inside; the young male was lying on his bed having grown a liking to the soft touch of the bed underneath him, allowing him to fall asleep peacefully after his exhausting journey to his home. Marik and Bakura gave small smirks at their new comrade before entering their room and sliding the door shut behind them, after looking around the items they left scatted to use for waking Yami, Marik simply held up his bag before letting go so it hit the floor with a loud thud.

Eyes snapping open, Yami sat up to be met with the two grins of Marik and Bakura. Noticing the bag on the floor he eased his suspicion and turned to them once again.

"You…must be who I'm sharing with…" Yami commented unsurely.

"That is true" Marik assured as he reached down to pick up his bag "I'm Marik. The moonlight statue is Bakura".

"Right…I'm Yami".

"Yami huh? That fits with being an assassin doesn't it?" Marik chuckled "Yami the ninja".

Bakura simply gave a hum and moved over to one of the beds to set his bag down and to exchange his shirt "I thought this bed was mine. Is it?"

"Yup. You guessed right" Marik congratulated as he turned to the remaining bed to throw his bag on "So I suppose you must be good, to master at least".

"I consider myself pretty skilful, sure".

"Hmph. You haven't been through masters training yet" Bakura mumbled before grabbing a bundle of clothes and turning to the door "I'm going to take a bath. Why don't you tell master what we've done? Lap up all the praise".

"Oh I bet you wish you were lapping something else up" Marik retorted earning a punch on the arm from Bakura before he walked out.

"Bakura…doesn't seem to like me" Yami commented quietly.

"Bakura doesn't like anyone except me" Marik answered with a small shrug of his shoulders "Just the way he is. Don't take it personally".

"Oh…okay".

Marik grinned before sitting next to Yami on his bed "So, new boy, tell us everything about you. You're going to be here for a while, so you might as well get the embarrassing stuff done and out of the way now".

Yami gave a light smile at the humour but decided to play with Marik's query and told him as much as he could—without embarrassing himself—to Marik.

* * *

The days continued long and hard for the aspiring assassin as he followed his masters' lessons to every detail he was given; he had to rival his skills against Marik and Bakura's many years of tutoring, which often left him discouraged when his master scolded him when he did not copy Marik and Bakura exactly, it did not help that on every training session he spotted Kaiba sitting on the edge of the house scowling at Yami. Though why he did, Yami could not figure out.

The seasons passed and as the sunlight became shorter the once lush green forest around them turned into a fiery display of orange and red, rainfall of leaves from the trees floated through the woods, and a bitter taste of cold touched the air around them. However, training still continued no matter what the weather decided to throw at them.

Yami was asleep in his bed as the morning began to rise in the horizon, he gave a soft sigh before his eyes fluttered open. Through blurred eyes he made out the distinctive shape of someone sitting by the edge of his bed watching him, once gaining his vision he stared at Marik who smiled when Yami had woken up.

"You sleep like a woman" He commented earning a glare from Yami.

"Leave me alone Marik" Yami growled as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"Fine" Marik stood up "Master told me that he wanted to see you though. Probably his last test to see if you're worth keeping or not".

"Oh…right".

Marik turned to the door and slid it open "Oh…and another thing" He turned back to Yami "Bakura had a dream about you".

"Oh…did he?" Yami mumbled as he let his legs slid out of his bed "Is that important?"

"Of course. Bakura doesn't dream unless something's going to happen. For instance, he dreamt about you coming here, and he was right".

Yami raised a suspicious brow "And…what did he dream about me?"

"He didn't say much" Marik shrugged his shoulders "Something like, you're going to meet someone, and then he said he saw graves burst open. Whatever it means, something is going to happen to you soon, so be wary Yami".

"I'll keep that in mind" Yami watched Marik leave before shaking his head and standing up "Stupid…"

Once getting dressed for the new day Yami left his bedroom and slid the door shut, he looked up when hearing footsteps and spotted Kaiba walking closer to him, not wanting to anger the masters son he kept his head down and tried to walk faster so they would pass quicker and avoiding conflict.

"Hey, father's looking for you" Kaiba spoke when they reached each other.

"Yes…Marik told me" Yami added keeping his gaze low.

Kaiba hummed but turned his head "It's probably going to be a life or death trial, so try not to die okay?"

Yami was taken back and lifted his head to watch Kaiba walk away, his concern surprised Yami but he had little time to dwell on Kaiba's feelings as he continued to where his master was waiting for him. He came to the main room and slid the door open before giving a small bow to his master who was silently drinking tea, Yami gave a curious frown at his masters' cool composure but walked closer nonetheless to be in his line of view.

"You said you wanted to see me master?" Yami queried making the male finally gaze up at him.

"Yes. Yami, you're a good student" He complimented as his hand went through his own pockets to search for something "But only under my teaching. I want to see how you do on your own".

He then pulled out a necklace and held it out for Yami to observe it; the string was thin and almost invisible if a black line did not appear on the masters clothes representing the string, it was tied in a knot on one end while dangling on the other end of the necklace was a large black stone, its surface reflected most of the light hitting it and had an engraved inscription carved into one side of it. Yami had not seen anything of its kind, and was curious as to why he was given it and how it would benefit him.

"I only give this to the best students" The master explained as he held it in between his hands "It gives them the ability to stay hidden in the shadows on their espionages; Marik and Bakura have their own and you shall too, once you complete this last test".

Yami gave an eager smile and stood to full height "I'm ready for anything Master".

"Good" He pocketed the necklace and stood at the door before pointing out "You've noticed the mountain out in the distance I presume right?"

"Yes master" Yami said.

"Good. Then that's your test" The master turned to Yami who held a perplexed face "Your test is to go to the mountain and back here within a day. I know it is possible since I and many before you have made the test, so you can do it if you're capable of it. You'll take nothing with you and you can only use what you find on your path up there; a good assassin is a man who can use his surroundings to his advantage, no matter what the situation is. Do you think you're up to it?"

Yami gave an unsure glance to the large mountain in the distance knowing that walking or running would not get him to the mountain and back within a day, however accepting that fact would mean he had failed and there was no room for failures. It was a sink or swim situation.

"I'll leave immediately" Yami stated as he hoped down to the ground "And I'll be back before you know it".

"I'll look forward to that Yami" The master assured as he watched Yami run off into the woods, he gave a sigh and returned to his tea while he waited for Yami's return.

* * *

Running through the woods certainly got Yami far away from the training camp, however he was tired out instantly and he ended up walking through the tree covered hill as he gathered some energy to start running once again. The woods was peaceful and barely empty apart from the odd bird or animal sighting, Yami had not really explored the surrounding woods in depth and was amazed by everything he saw as he continued up the path, he was sure when he was to return home he would long to run back up the mountain to enjoy the scenery.

Yami briefly stopped to look through the top of the trees to see the position of the sun and the distance from the mountain, there was not a lot of time left and he was not even at the foot of the mountain, but failure was not an option so he pressed on and forced his feet upwards.

"I've got to do this" Yami whispered to himself "I can't fail…I must…"

He continued to drag his body up towards the mountain but his faith was starting to slip away as his mind comprehended the distance he would have to cover and the impossible amount of strength and energy he would need, it made him feel insignificant to the task he had been given. So much was expected of him, and he was beginning to feel he could not deliver it.

After a few more climbs up the steep hill Yami had to stop to catch his breath back, he lent against a tree and looked around as he panted making sure no one could see him.

"I'm so pathetic…" He grumbled as he ran his hand through his sweat soaked hair.

Yami looked around at his view of the woods before tilting his head when he spotted something unusual. On the side of the path was a small stone shrine, it was covered in moss and other debris and was out of place on the slope towards the mountain. With a curious frown Yami moved closer to the shrine and looked around its worn out appearance, when seeing nothing threatening about it he gave it the respectful bow it deserved before looking around again.

"I wonder what this is doing out in the middle of nowhere" Yami mused then thinking of an idea "Master said I had to utilize my surroundings. Maybe there's something hidden around here to help me".

With it being the only optimistic thought he had he searched around on the grass and around the shrine, hoping the find a secret compartment or a sign to point him in the right direction, however there was nothing out of place Yami could use for his trek. With a disheartened sigh Yami stood up and was about to walk away, however light trickled through the leaves and made view of some more rotting ruins below to path.

More curiosity bubbled through him as he moved to the edge of the path and looked down at the forgotten temple below him, where walls and doors had once been looked like they had been blocked by newer stone then the walls wrapped up in vines, leaves from the trees had fallen and began to shrivel up on its roof. It looked less like a temple and more like an abandoned prison, a warning to stay away rather than a sanctuary to welcome visitors in.

Yami knew that if he detoured away from the path there would be no chance for him to reach the mountain and back, however no one had mentioned of an old temple near the training camp, so he was intrigued why it was there and why it was blocked off. He slid his body down the path side so his feet could touch the stone roof, allowing him to walk over it and observe the strange depictions carved into the stone.

"This is so weird…" Yami whispered before looking over to the next dome shaped roof, noticing it had a round gap for him to look into.

Yami made the small jump between buildings before climbing up to the top of the dome; he kicked a few of the leaves away to make sure he did not trip on them before he peered through the hole. He was only greeted with darkness and the little light that did fall in only went deeper into the darkness not revealing anything of interest, if he were to guess it looked like the floor below had fallen due to a lack of maintenance; or it was purposely built for a bottomless hole.

Yami gave a hum and gave shuffled his feet closer to the edge of the hole to take a closer look, but he had misjudged the strength of the old building. The stone around his feet began to crack and before he knew it collapsed on him and Yami fell through the hole, descending into the dark hole below.

* * *

His head throbbed in waves of pain and sickness mixing together, he imagined he had hit his head on a rock or something on his way down, which also explained why he felt that he was beginning to wake up and could only see darkness in front of him. He gave a groan and felt his head turn as he slowly regained sense through his body, feeling every flow of blood running through his veins which made his stomach cringe at the odd sensation.

"Hey…I think he's waking up" A voice whispered unsurely.

At the sound of another person—sounding like there was more than one of them—Yami forced his eyes to open at the blurry surroundings near him. Darkness surrounded him with only a trickle of light making the rocks glisten at the touch, nearest to him was two people that did not seem familiar to him but looked over him with concern.

"Sir? A-Are you alright?" Another voice asked when seeing Yami's conscious state, it sounded shyer and weaker than the first voice he had heard.

Yami gave a groan and his hand reached up to rub the back of his head where his sensitive skin was, feeling the bump already growing on the back of his head. Another groan left his lips when the touch caused ripples of pain to flow through so pulled his hand away from the back of his head, he rubbed his eyes before looking to the male closest to him. He was young and had the odd dirt mark rubbed into his skin, his eyes were large and looked alien to the light trickling in, his clothes were mere rags hanging on his skin and were old with an unpleasant smell to them. The same was with his friend though he looked like he had tried to present himself as a tough man, his toned muscles seen under the odd rips in his clothes.

"I-I'm fine…" Yami reassured as he sat up and rubbed his bruised back.

"Ah, that's good" The younger one chirped.

Yami ran his hand through his hair before noticing something moving and glanced to it, his body tensing up when mistaking it for a snake, but when realising what it was he tensed once more. It was a long, white, fur covered tail. It was sleek and lengthy like a cat's tail; it swayed back and forth in its natural way without a care to Yami's stare. He stared at the appendage before looking to the boy with an equally shocked face when he noticed the cat ears tucked away within his hair locks; he then turned to the blond who had identical dog looking features.

"Oh my god!" Yami backed away from the two pressing himself up against the rock wall "What the hell are you?!"

"N-No! Please don't be scared!" The cat tried to soothe, however his innocent words did not ease Yami.

"It's no use Yug" The blond tried to soothe "He'll never listen".

"What the hell are you?!" Yami questioned as he tried to keep a distance between the two males.

"W-We won't hurt you" The boy continued to assure though he looked just as scared as Yami was.

"What are you?!" Yami continued to question looking between the two "Wh-Who are you?!"

"I-I'm Yugi" The boy introduced before turning to his friend "And this is Joey…"

Yami gave a small perplexed look at the introduction but seeing that they were trying to appear friendly despite their weird looks, he felt his body loosen up and allowed himself to relax against the fallen rubble, after all if they had truly wanted to hurt him they would have taken the opportunity when he had gone unconscious.

"S-So…wh-what are you…?" Yami repeated though sounding more curious "Some sort of…dead person?"

"Eh? Umm…I-I don't think so…" Yugi mumbled lightly rolling his eyes in thought "I don't…feel dead".

"Then…what are you…?"

"We were the spirits for the temple" Yugi chirped smiling at the male "We were looked after by the priests and all we had to do was stand when they were doing the ceremonies; it was great!"

Yugi's ears then fell flat against his head and his eyes fell to the floor "But then…something changed…" He whispered quietly as his eyes turned to a sombre feel "They put us down here in this hole, and no matter how much we called to them they never helped! It was like…they didn't want us anymore…we don't understand what we did wrong, we did everything they asked of us, why were we punished…?"

Yami stared at Yugi's quiet presence before looking up to the hole he had fallen through "So…that explains the bricked up doors" Yami commented "They didn't want anyone wandering in".

"What?! They're not there?!" Joey questioned, both seeming surprised by the fact.

Yami searched between their shocked faces before voicing "How…long have you been down here…?"

The two turned to each other in thought before Joey shrugged and answered "A few days…maybe…i-it's been a while…"

"Right…" Yami could tell by their apprehension and no doubt confused states they had no real distinction between what had happened. Looking up once again Yami noticed a light orange tint to the sunlight that reached in, realising it was turning into evening and remembering that he still had his task to finish "Shit!"

The two jumped at his sudden cursing before he turned to them "I have to leave really quickly! I have a task to complete and if I don't I'll be kicked out for sure! Do you know any way out of here and to the mountain?"

"The mountain?" Joey queried "Sure, there's a tunnel that leads right to the side of it".

"Really?! You have to take me there at once!"

"It's this way" Joey thumbed into the darkness before walking deeper into the dark tunnels.

Yugi gave a smile before he stood and tugged on Yami's hand to encourage him to follow, though Yami would have preferred to stay in the light where he could see Yugi pulled him along and he was soon consumed in the darkness with them. Not being able to see where he was going Yami often ended up tripping on the rock covered path and had to use his hand along the side of the wall to stable him, however Joey and Yugi seemed accustomed to the darkness—though that did not seem surprising to Yami—and were able to manoeuvre through the tunnel as if it were instinct to them to know the path. Soon however small parts of light seeped onto the rocks around them and looking up Yami spotted the mouth of the cave opening out into the light, his eyes were at first weak to the light after wandering through the darkness, but they soon grew accustomed again and he looked over the long view he had of the forest below his feet and the small open patch where the training camp was.

Yami had little time to enjoy the view as he looked up to the setting sun and calculated how quickly he could make it back to his home "If I leave now…"

The two turned curiously to Yami as he looked down at the path beneath him before turning back to Yugi and Joey "I have to leave right now; otherwise it'll be for nothing. So thanks for everything but I have to leave now".

"Will we see you again?" Yugi asked curiously.

Yami briefly stopped and looked up at the poor souls wondering about his answer "Well…you can come and see me right? You don't have to stay there anymore now".

Yugi and Joey gave unsure looks feeling insecure to leave the place they had to call home "We…We don't know…"

Yami picked up on their apprehension and gave a sigh "I'll think about it. But I have to go. Bye".

Yami continued to slid his body down the side of the mountain under the watchful gaze of the two, once his feet came across balanced ground and managed to start walking once again he looked back at the two and gave them a quick wave before starting to run through the forest, hoping that by some miracle he made it back in time.

* * *

The evening light trickled through the leaves and onto the mat floor of the house, after a while of impatient waiting Kaiba had joined his father in waiting for Yami's return; however Kaiba became more agitated at the lack of concern his father showed on Yami's absence.

With a sigh Kaiba looked out into the woods seeing the long shadows cast over the building "He hasn't come back yet" Kaiba finally managed to say turning to his father.

"Mmm" Was his reply.

Kaiba gave a small frown to his father but looked out to the woods again "We should go looking for him, it's been too long".

"If he has run into trouble, he can get himself out of it".

Kaiba gave another annoyed sigh and kept watching the forest in hope that he could spot Yami, regardless if he had passed the test or not. After a while Kaiba heard movement in the woods and when looking up he spotted Yami running back through the woods, he was panting and sweating from his sprint from the mountain, however he made it back to the house and stood gasping for breath for a few moments before turning to his master.

"Did…I…pass…?" He asked breathlessly.

His master gave a curious glance but nodded regardless "You certainly took your time".

"I got…distracted…" Yami answered vaguely.

"Hmm…" He stood up and beckoned Yami closer to which the male moved to the edge of the house, the master dug into his pockets before taking out the necklace he had previously shown to Yami before slipping it over his head "You have earned this Yami. You have successfully embraced the skills required to become an assassin, you will go far Yami".

"Thank you master" Yami gave a smile as his fingers touched over the sleek black stone that now hung around his neck.

"Whatever distracted you certainly took your attention" His master commented with a small smirk going across his lips "You worried Kaiba that's for sure".

Yami looked towards Kaiba who glared at his father's back for spilling his secrets; he then stormed off leaving Yami perplexed to the subtle hinting before turning to his master as he touched Yami's shoulder.

"Come, you must be starving. Plus I want to hear what captivated you so long" His master joked as he lead Yami inside.

"Oh…sure" Yami slipped out of his shoes and climbed back into the house but not without giving one last look to the woods, he pondered if Yugi and Joey would be safe on their own through the night but could do nothing as his master called him to follow.

* * *

Weeks had passed and Yami was finally allowed to accept jobs from his master when he was given to them, and he soon sunk into the comfortable feel of going out and ending a man's life and to be praised by his master, it was a repetitive life but he was content with it and fell comfortable with his new role or a killer.

Yami trudged his way back home after finishing another job, he gave a depressing sigh as he looked up at the once colourful forest, now it was bare and stood dead as it begun its survival through the Winter. Yami gave a small shiver feeling a cold chill but continued down the path towards the home, spotting it much more easily through the empty trunks of the trees as its camouflage.

"Yo! Yami!"

Yami stopped and looked up to the dead trees to see Marik lying against on the branches, his leg casually hanging off the edge "Done already?"

"Yeah. I take it you were waiting for me?"

"Damn straight. My balls nearly froze off" Marik jumped down from his perch and started to walk with Yami back to their home "So did it go well for you?"

"Yes" Yami fished into his bag before taking out the scrolls he had used "Got the plans; master can send these off later".

"Bakura will probably do that" Marik commented before rolling his shoulders back "Well, at least we get the evening off".

Yami raised his brow "We don't have anything else to do?" He queried.

"Not for an entire day" Marik raised his brow at Yami's curiosity "Why? Got plans for tonight?"

"No…not really" Yami replied vaguely as he looked back to the woods "Just wanted…to go somewhere".

"Oh. Right".

The two reached home and slipped out of their shoes before searching out their master, each explained every detail of their task until they satisfied their masters' need of knowledge, once taking the items off of Marik and Yami he allowed the two to relax for the rest of the day to do what they wished.

After managing to persuade Marik to leave him alone he locked himself in his room for a few minutes, he scavenged around through his belongings debating what Yugi and Joey would want to wear and appreciate having, once he had settled on some basic but expendable items he stashed them in his bag and slipped out of his bedroom hoping no one would see him.

"Where are you going?"

Yami jumped at the voice and turned around to see Kaiba standing behind him, he gave a relieved sigh but shrugged the bag so it hid more behind his back "Oh…nothing".

Kaiba raised a brow at Yami's vague answer and looked to his bag "So what's in your bag then?"

"Oh…stuff" Yami tried to sidle away from Kaiba but he made sure he kept Yami pinned in his gaze.

"Why so secretive?" He queried "You're not…hiding something from me are you?"

"No…I-I just…don't see why you need to know" Yami backfired as he continued to slid his body along the wall.

"Just don't do anything stupid again" Kaiba warned with a sigh "I remember the last time you disappeared for too long".

Yami looked up at Kaiba before tilting his head "Sounds like you actually care about me" He joked lightly.

Kaiba glared down at the male before finally stepping back and allowing him to leave without being questioned by Kaiba "Just go before I change my mind".

Yami did not dawdle in the risk of annoying Kaiba further though he had to be glad that Kaiba did not press on about his contents in the bag, he hurried away from the house before being caught up again and retraced his steps back to the mountain in hope he came across the temple once again. After a chilly stroll up the path to the mountain he soon reached the small path shrine, he gave a smile and jogged over to it before giving it a small prayer and sliding down the side so he reached the blocked temple, he gave a light jump to reach the roofs and continued to the hole he had once fallen through. He made sure not to stand on the looser bricks on the edge as he slipped his bag off and opened it up, he had made sure to stash some spare rope from his previous mission in his bag, knowing he did not want to repeat his fall from last time. He hooked a noose around a nearby branch and pulled on it to make sure it was secure before he dropped it down the hole, since he had no recollection of how deep it was he could not be certain if the rope reached to the bottom, however he did not want to chance walking through the tunnels in the mountain on his own.

Slipping his bag over his shoulder again Yami clung to the rope before making his descent into the temple; having a more slower and awoke time to look at the inside of the temple he took the chance to study the paintings left to rot on the walls of the temple. The people had to be the priests as the symbolic signs pointing to them gave it away, in several of the depictions Yami easily recognised the half animal bred people that had to be Yugi and Joey; he gave a small sigh wondering how long they had been left abandoned and how long they believed they would be reunited.

Yami then frowned when he felt the rope tug and looked down into the inky black hole, watching the rope jiggle from side to side as he heard voices from below.

"Yug, you shouldn't touch it" Joey scolded.

"It's not dangerous" Yugi's voice calmed as he continued to tug on the rope "I'm just seeing what it is".

Yami gave a small chuckle and continued to climb down into the darkness; he reached the rock face and continued to descend into its jaws, Yugi's and Joey's voices continued to grow as he made his way down and soon he came across broken debris that Yami must have broken the previous visit, no time soon the light hit the ground and playing on the end of the rope was a curious Yugi with Joey trying to persuade him to leave it alone.

"Hey you two" Yami greeted when he got close enough.

The two jumped but when recognising Yami they waited for him to land safely before Yugi stood closest to him, an eager smile already on his face "What's your name?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh…it's Yami" Yami answered.

"Yami! I'm so glad you came back!" Yugi then turned to Joey "I said he would come back! Didn't I?!"

"Yeah…you did" Joey mumbled obviously having lost a conversation he previous had with Yugi about Yami's return.

Yami gave a small smile before sliding his bag down his arm "Well I thought you could do with some stuff at least" Yami explained as he opened the bag up "And Yugi, don't try and pull on the rope, it's my only way down here".

"Oh o-okay" Yugi cringed a little at Yami's warning but felt intrigued as Yami set the bag down and took out the stuff he had stashed away inside.

"Okay, I got you some new clothes" Yami held out the clothes he had taken before passing them to Yugi who looked intrigued at them "I thought you might appreciate something warmer during the winter".

Yugi and Joey looked down at their poor excuse for clothing and could not argue against Yami's reasoning, as he passed out more clothing for them the two sorted it between them before they took off their clothes and replaced it with their new warmer attires. Once they felt comfortable in their new clothes they gathered round Yami's bag to see what else he brought with him. While Yugi was watching Yami go through the items in his bag, Joey couldn't help but notice the small side pocket and let his hand stroke over the weapon concealed before he pulled it out.

"What's this for?" Joey asked as he held up the group of throwing knives.

"Oh, those are my throwing knives" Yami explained as he took the knives out of Joey's hands "I haven't had to use them yet".

"Why do you need them?" Yugi queried as Yami stashed them away.

"For the missions I do" Yami answered "Like I said, I haven't needed to use them before but…can never be too sure".

"What are your 'missions'?"

"So far they're just collecting information about the enemy" Yami explained with a small shrug of his shoulders "Not really anything exciting, but if it's against the enemy I'll have to do it".

"Enemy?" Yugi leaned closer in curiously "You have enemies?"

"Not…personally" Yami rubbed the back of his neck "See there's this war going on. The North is trying to overtake the South, so we're trying to fight back and hope we can win so we'll live in peace. My job is just to simply sabotage their defences and army as much as I can, though I've only taken plans and such".

"Are you winning?" Yugi queried.

"Well…I'm not sure. I'd like us to be".

"Can we help?" Yugi asked with an eager smile "We can take plans too!"

"I don't think so…it's a lot of practice to not be seen, and a lot of combat you need to learn…it would take a while to learn it".

"Oh…" Yugi's ears fell down against his head as he looked away sadly "I was hoping to help…"

"Well…maybe it's better for you to stay here" Yami soothed as he reached out to stroke Yugi's hair "So you won't get hurt".

"In other words he wants us to leave him alone" Joey commented making Yami frown at him.

"That's not true!" Yami hissed "I just don't want you doing something reckless and get hurt".

"But we can't get hurt!" Yugi then proudly tapped his chest "We're the gods children, nothing can harm us!"

"Mmm…still prefer it if you were here…"

"Besides" Joey turned to Yugi with a smirk "You couldn't hurt a fly could ya?"

"No but I could help infiltrate" Yugi explained with a grin "I can steal things and leave without having to hurt anyone!"

"Mmhmm…and what happens if you get caught?" Joey queried.

Yugi stared at him blankly in thought "Umm…surrender?"

Yami could not help but break a smile at the two, a small chuckle bubbling deep inside him until he could not hold back and released his laugh, hugging his middle as the two watched Yami curl up in a laughing mess by himself.

"Y-You two!" He managed to choke out before he was taken over by laughing again.

Yugi and Joey simply sat perplexed before Joey turned to his smaller friend "People these days are weird…" He commented earning a nod from Yugi.

* * *

The group of workers scrambled in their small workspace of a room, already feeling the presence of Lord Kichiro approaching them, it sent them into chills and they rushed around to gather the research they had done for their work.

A bang echoed across the room making them cringe before turning to the man standing at the door, the rich colours of his robes and the intimidating frown on his face only made them cower more at his gaze to each of them. A brief moment of silence passed over them until one of the workers gathered up the few papers they had written on and walked over to Lord Kichiro, keeping his head low so they did not make eye contact.

"W-We…" He stammered before clearing his throat to speak "We've found a way my Lord".

His serious frown turned into a small smirk at the news "Is that so? Is it…effective?"

"We assure you it will, but we need the right time of day…so is it okay if we wait a few days, we need a powerful storm to surge…"

He gave a hum and stroked his chin in thought for a few moments "Alright, I'll give you a few more days. But if I find out this has been a waste of time, it'll be your heads that'll roll".

And with his warn punctured deep into their minds he left them to add the finishing touches, they sighed and felt their bodies melt away at the easy air around them, however they knew that if they were caught slacking off it was to be their downfall so continued work in fear of their lives.

Lord Kichiro walked down the corridor passing the guards patrolling up and down the area, he briefly stopped to look out into the inky night sky and the ground spreading out from his home, he gave a small smile as he looked down at the small unmarked graves scattered in the empty plots of land before he clasped his hands together and whispered to himself.

"Soon…you shall join us in the living…" He chuckled "You will…live again, brave soldiers".

* * *

The days passed and the winter grew harsher for those living near the mountain, heavy snow fell onto the ground and bitter winds blew making it unappealing for anyone to go outside, however for Yami and the others it was a duty he had no choice to do. Aside from his frequent missions he grew worried for Yugi and Joey who still persisted on staying in their underground home, it was not as if it were the most warmest spot in the world and they did not have the numerous supplies like the average person did, Yami tried his best to give them anything they required for the winter to help them strife through it.

The winter passed through and the spring came quickly with unopened buds of flowers already growing and the leaves returning to the trees, the snow had melted away leaving only the few drops as a reminder it was ever there. Yami looked out of the window from his bedroom; his eyes locked onto the mountain in the distance and gave a small sigh.

"I hope Yugi and Joey are okay…" He whispered to himself before tearing his body away from the window and to his clothes.

Once dressed Yami left his bedroom and searched for his Master, who appeared to be waiting for him much like always "Is there anything you want me to do master?" Yami asked.

He sat in silence before shaking his head "No…not right now. Why don't you brush up on your training? It's a nice day…"

"Yeah, okay" Yami left his master alone and turned to the empty woods at the back of the house, he quickly made sure that no one was secretly watching him before he kicked his shoes on and began the run through the woods, hoping that he could go and come back before anyone noticed him disappearing.

Marik and Bakura poked their heads round the wall and watched Yami disappear into the woods, with smirks they left their hiding place to track him through the woods, making sure they had a good distance between Yami so they would not be spotted but still kept up with him.

Unaware that he was being followed Yami continued through the woods and stopped when he came to the shrine by the side of the road, it was undamaged by the harsh winter and still held a light coat of snow over its roof. Yami brushed the white snow aside so it was clean before giving it his usual bow of respect.

"Yo Yami!" Yami jumped at the sudden voice but turned to see Marik and Bakura walking over to him "Where are you going?"

"Oh…uhh…nowhere" Yami lied as he watched Bakura walk around him to observe the shrine "Just…you know, taking a walk and such".

"Uhuh".

"Hey what's that?" Bakura queried as he pointed to the rope tied around the tree.

Yami mentally cursed himself as Marik joined Bakura's side "Hmm…looks like rope. You wouldn't know anything about it, would you Yami?"

Yami remained silent leaving Marik to shrug his shoulders "Ah, well we best investigate it ourselves".

"No!" Yami turned to them and bit his lip "If I show you…you won't tell anyone else…right?"

Marik and Bakura shared a curious look but placed their hands on their chests "Not even for our lives" They recited "We won't tell a soul".

Yami gave an unsure look but climbed down to the temple roof, leading them to the rope "Alright…this way then".

Yami made sure the rope was still intact after the harsh winter conditions before he descended down into the black abyss of the forgotten temple, Marik and Bakura gave unsure looks at the apparent bottomless hole but once Marik had grabbed the rope they followed Yami down into the darkness, Yami tried to listen out for Yugi's and Joey's voice, but he was only greeted with the odd drip of melted snow sinking into the underground tunnels. Once Yami's feet touched the stone ground he let go of the rope and looked around, the rocks seemed to be darker than what they had been and an uncomfortable moist was stuck to the walls, but no sign of Yugi and Joey.

With worry going over him he took a few steps closer into the tunnels "Yugi?!" Yami called out "Joey?! Is anyone here?!"

Marik and Bakura soon reached the bottom and looked around curiously at the carved out tunnels "This place is weird…" Bakura whispered hugging his arms "I feel like I've been here before…"

"Bakura, you're full of weird crap, you know that?" Marik teased earning a scowling Bakura.

"Yeah laugh it up dick" Bakura spat and continued to look around "I know what I'm talking about; I don't like this place…"

"Yami?" A timid voice called back.

Yami gave a smile when he recognised Yugi's voice and listened as he heard running footsteps echo around him, Yugi soon emerged from the darkness with Joey following after him, he was about to run towards Yami but when spotting the other two behind him he slowed down until he came to a halt and stared at the other two with confusion and fear.

"What…the hell are those things?" Marik asked breaking the silence.

Yugi looked up at Yami fearfully before darting back to Joey, hiding behind his friend for protection from the new acquaintances.

"It's okay" Yami reassured "They're my friends, they aren't going to hurt you".

The two still appeared unsure of Marik's and Bakura's presence and lingered back in the dark, Yami gave a small sigh but turned to his friend's shocked and confused faces "Marik, Bakura this is Yugi and Joey…"

"But…what are they?" Marik questioned.

"I don't…really know" Yami answered quickly glancing to them before looking back "But I've been looking after them this whole time, and they need me".

Bakura tilted his head in curiosity before taking a few steps closer making Yugi and Joey cringe "They're like some weird…mutation or something" Bakura muttered squinting his eyes to them "They've been down here all this time?"

"Yes…they refuse to leave" Yami explained before walking closer to them "Don't worry, these are my friends, they won't hurt you I promise".

Joey frowned towards Yami as if he did not trust his friend but after a few moments Joey eased up and looked back to the two perplexed humans "If…you say so" Joey mumbled but stuck to Yami's side as he lead them closer to Marik and Bakura to take a better look at them.

"So…a cat and a dog?" Bakura queried with a small hum "Original".

Marik raised his brow when he spotted Yugi peeking curiously from over Joey's shoulder, he gave a smirk "I like the kitty cat" He commented making Yugi cower behind him again.

"Knock it off Marik" Yami growled to the blond "He doesn't like it".

"Well sorry" Marik teased smirking to Yami "Didn't mean to upset your boyfriend".

Yami flushed up in a red colour and gave a deep growl to Marik "H-He's not my boyfriend".

"Oi, oi Bakura" Marik turned to Bakura who also smirked at Yami's flushed nature "I think he comes down here for a different reason".

"Th-That's not true! Shut up!" Yami hissed earning a laugh out of the two teasing him.

The three stayed in the tunnels for a while so Yugi and Joey could get used to their new friends, Marik and Bakura also seemed to ease at their strange appearance and their innocence towards the world—though it gave Marik a chance to stir Yami's emotions with teasing—they became trusted towards the new people and easily became friends. Though they were still cautious about their boisterous nature Yugi and Joey warmed up towards them, Joey even managed to find a way to defend Yugi from Marik's and Bakura's teasing statements when Yami had ended up wallowing in embarrassment.

Marik then looked down when he had spotted a hand going across his chest to touch the necklace dangling over his clothes; he turned to Yugi with a raised brow who continued to fondle the jewellery before looking up at Marik, a small smile going across his mouth.

"Yami has the same one" Yugi spoke.

"Yeah" Marik took the necklace out of Yugi's hands so he could twirl it in his fingers "We all do. We're all part of the same group you see".

"Oohh…" Yugi's tail swayed lightly "Do you take things as well?"

Marik raised his brow and turned to Yami who simply nodded for an answer "Uhh…yeah. I do".

"We wanted to help Yami" Yugi's eyes then fell flat as he looked down at the ground "But Yami said he didn't want me to do that stuff…"

"Hmm…can't imagine why" Marik pondered as he smirked towards Yami, earning a glare from Yami to keep silent.

Bakura briefly looked up at the entrance they had come from before standing up "Come on, we've been gone long enough, if Master hasn't figured out we're missing Kaiba most certainly has".

Marik groaned "That means getting up" Nevertheless he pushed himself on his feet and brushed his clothes "Still, we did find out where Yami had been disappearing to".

"Yeah but you can't tell anyone" Yami reminded as they walked back to the rope "Or I'll deal with you personally".

"Alright, no need to threaten us" Marik waved a hand at Yami before grabbing the rope tight "Or we'll have to deal with you personally".

"W-Will you come back?" Yugi queried with a tone of sadness for the more unfortunate answer.

Yami looked to the other two who gave unsure looks but nodded "Sure, if we have the time. We're usually busy…but we'll pop in every so often".

Yugi's smile widened and he clasped his hands together "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Marik chuckled as he began to hoist himself up the rope "Well we have to come back, just to make sure Yami keeps his hands to himself".

Yami's face turned red again and he reached out to hit Marik but he already crawled further up to make sure he missed, Marik gave a chuckle that echoed as he disappeared into the sunlight above, Bakura turned to the rope next as his fingers held tight to the rope.

"Though Marik is right" Bakura commented as he began to climb up "And you can't keep denying it".

Yami kept his frown on the two until they had disappeared out of view, leaving him alone with Joey and Yugi, Yami lost his frown when he felt someone tugging on his shirt and turned around to see Yugi standing behind him tugging the back of his clothes to get his attention.

"Nothing…bad…is going to happen…right?" Yugi asked quietly with a little fear mixed in his voice.

Yami was perplexed at the question and looked up at Joey to see if he shared the same view, it was not as deep as Yugi's feelings were but he too shared a concerned look at Yugi's question, it was as if they were holding back something they wanted to tell him but they were forced to keep silent. Yami flicked looks between Joey and Yugi before finally answering.

"No…not at all" He assured and patted Yugi's head.

Yugi gave a smile and moved his head in time with Yami's action "Good! Come back tomorrow okay?"

"I'll try to…" Yami gave one last wave to his friends before he too made his ascend back to the fresh air and joined up with Marik and Bakura before they took the route home, Yami's mind was still wondering why the strange question was asked, blocking Marik's and Bakura's teasing as they walked.

"You've killed him Marik" Bakura commented at Yami's silent walk through the woods.

"Didn't know I had it in me" Marik replied before tapping Yami's back to bring him back to reality "Hey Yami, what's going on in your little head?"

"Huh? Oh…" Yami ran his hand through his hair and shook his head "Nothing just…thinking…"

"Oh yeah?" A smirk grew on their faces as they turned to each other "Yugi's bottom eh?"

A hard blush seeped onto Yami's cheeks as he gave a heavy sigh "You guys are so…"

"Irresistible?" Marik added.

"The best?" Bakura added.

"Charming?"

"Intelligent?"

"Annoying" Yami growled and turned to them to put his hands on his hips "I don't know what you think is going on but to say those things? You're despicable".

"Sounds like I missed out on some fun" A cold chilling voice remarked, sending a shiver up Yami's spine until he turned around to see Kaiba standing behind him.

"Oh, hey Kaiba" Marik greeted leisurely.

"What are you three doing in the woods?" Kaiba inquired with a raised brow.

"Oh Yami just wanted to show us his half breed human pet creatures" Yami twitched at Marik's answer and felt that he was ready to explode if it was not because Kaiba stood in front of him.

"Yes, very amusing" He droned with a roll of his eyes "What were you really doing?"

"Just doing a touch up of training" Marik lied with a simple shrug "Is that so much of a problem?"

Kaiba's eyebrows rose and looked down at Yami who gave a small smile to show he backed Marik's story up, with a sigh Kaiba turned and walked back towards the house "Just get back okay?"

As they began to follow Kaiba back Yami turned around and made sure Marik knew how he felt by sending a glare his direction and tracing his thumb over his neck, but this only encouraged Marik to grin more and Yami knew it was a fight he had lost even before trying.

Once they reached back in the vicinity of their home they noticed their Master waiting for them to return, but something about him knocked any sense of humour out of them, and it made them all fill with curiosity at his sight.

"They were out training" Kaiba spoke to his father as he slipped out of his shoes and simply turned to walk away.

The Master raised a brow but looked at the three "Well…I'm glad you're training, you're going to need it" He then gestured them to follow him as he walked into his room "Come, we must talk".

Yami turned to the other two who gave puzzled looks but did as he said; they stepped out of their shoes and followed him in, Bakura shutting the door behind them so they were in privacy. They sat down at the low table, the Master on one side and the three students on the other, waiting to see what their orders—so they presumed—were to be.

"You're needed urgently" The Master began to explain as he picked up a map and laid it out on the table for the three of them to see the plans already drawn out "Lord Kichiro has been making advances says our sources, every available man has been sent word to make the move to take him down, however they need our skills to be able to infiltrate the palace, I said I'll send them my best".

"No pressure then" Marik remarked as he looked over the map "What exactly is the crazy man trying to do?"

"No one is…certain" The Master said slowly clasping his hands together "The only danger he presents we can tell so far is his security guards, so what he is planning is unknown, that makes it more dangerous for you…but I'm sure that you can handle it".

The three gave small looks to each other before Yami turned to his Master "You can count on us".

He gave a small smile at Yami's confident words "Good. You'll leave tomorrow, no less. I hope you'll come back safe and sound".

"So do we" The three stood up and gave a last bow to their Master before they walked out the room and shut the door behind them once again.

Marik then sighed and rubbed the back of his head "Great, a suicide mission. Why do the rich guys have to be crazy?"

"I'm going to go pack" Bakura turned to walk to their room "See you guys later".

"Mm…I need some things as well" Marik turned to Yami and patted his back "See you tonight as well".

"Yeah sure" Yami waited until Marik had slipped his shoes back on before jogging round the house and out of sight, Yami sighed and hugged his arms as he thought back to Yugi and Joey.

He had to tell them he was going to leave, but if he did how would they react? They had just asked him if nothing bad was going to happen, and then he was going to drop on them that he was going into a life and death situation. They would be the first—and probably only—people to cling onto him and refuse to let them go, but to not say anything and abandon them would be too painful, for both Yami and his friends. As much as he hated the idea, he had to tell them where he would be going in case they got worried about his absence.

* * *

Yami waited until the next morning to return to Yugi and Joey, the early morning mist hung around the trees making it hard to see through its thick cover but Yami managed to spot out the shape of the shrine, and just like tradition he gave it a small bow before jumping down to the temple and grabbing the rope.

The early morning light was left broken as it dribbled into the opening, allowing Yami little sight into the dark cold tunnels below, however he proceeded down into its gulf. Once his feet touched the stone he let go of the rope and tried to squint through the dark veil, a few feet into the tunnel Yami spotted the two bodies of Yugi and Joey snuggled together, laying on the edge of complete darkness and the misty morning light.

Yami made sure to try and be quiet as he approached them and knelt down, he watched them sleep for a few moments with their ears and tails twitching occasionally before he reached out and shook Yugi's shoulder, the small male gave a groan at the contact but lifted his head so tired eyes could gaze up at Yami.

"Hey Yugi…" Yami whispered "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you".

"Yami…?" Yugi gave a yawn but sat himself up, rubbing his eyes lightly so he could see Yami clearly "It's too early…"

"Yeah…I know" Yami bit his lip but knew that he had come too far "Yugi I…I'm going to leave for a few days…"

Yugi's ears seemed to perk at the news and his tired state diminished "What? Why?"

"I have…another mission to do" Yami explained and found himself unable to look Yugi in the eyes "There's…a chance I might not come back".

Yugi's eyes widened and he shook his head while he grabbed Yami's arm "No…No! No! You stay! Please!"

"I can't Yugi…" Yami coaxed Yugi's hands off his arm "Take care of Joey alright? And…I'll try to make it back".

Yugi was sat silent as Yami gave his last almost painful smile to Yugi before standing up, though Yugi's desperate and pleading face tore Yami's chest in half he continued to walk back to the rope, he wanted to say his farewells to Yugi but he knew one more look to that heartbreaking face would kill him, so left without saying a word to Yugi.

Once he reached to the misty morning air Yami took a few deep breaths in an attempt to stop the tears from welling up, as soon as he had calmed down he climbed back onto the mountain path and returned home, just in time for when Marik and Bakura woke up so they could leave for their mission.

* * *

The three trekked through the wilderness for hours, they had no reason to stop so continued through the land to reach their destination, Marik lead the other two as he held the map and was left to navigate around. Bakura frowned as he listened to Marik make a joke; however it was not Marik's humour that made him frown.

He looked back and noticed Yami had stopped, glancing back over his shoulder down the path they had just taken, as if he were staring back at someone. Bakura gave a sigh guessing what Yami was pining for.

"Yami" The male gave a small jump but turned to Bakura "Keep up; we'll leave you behind if you stand around".

"Yeah…" Yami looked back briefly before catching up with Bakura and Marik to continue their trip.

Soon the evening sky began to set into the once clear blue sky, the birds calls began to fade and the forest they had walked into grew thicker, Bakura gave an impatient sigh as he watched Marik attempt to read the map in the orange fading light.

"You've gotten us lost haven't you?" Bakura grumbled towards the blond.

"No, just checking" Marik looked out into the open air before turning to Bakura and Yami "We'll stay here for the night, the palace ain't too far so we're close enough but in safety range".

"Mmm. Wished it was somewhere drier" Bakura walked closer to Marik and glared at the approaching dark clouds "Looks like it's going to piss down".

"I'm sure it'll miss us" Marik rolled the map up and patted Bakura on the back "But if you get soaked…I can dry you off if you wish".

Bakura gave a small growl and shoved Marik away "Very funny, let's just set up camp before I end up murdering you".

The three managed to get the task done—though Marik took the opportunity to tease Bakura some more—and had set camp in the small clearing they had come to, Yami kept to himself for most of the time he was with Marik and Bakura, only mumbling some defensive words when they tried to tease him again. When they saw that their normal picking was not getting the usual amusing reaction from Yami, they left him alone to wallow in his own depression until the night brought them to sleep.

Yami gave a groan in his sleep and frowned, he could hear something or someone scurrying around near them, and for a moment he had wondered if the guards from the palace had found them. Yami opened his eyes lightly and looked for his weapons that laid next to him; he waited a few moments to make sure that the thing around them was the enemy.

"Are you sure these are the ones?" One voice questioned.

"No one else has been walking this way. This has got to be Yami".

'Wait…' Yami then sat up before jumping back as he found himself inches from Yugi's face "Yugi?! Joey!?" He stood up to face his two friends "What are you doing here?!"

"We came to help!" Yugi chirped smiling at Yami's feared face "You walk so fast! But we climbed up that rope you left behind and followed you, are you done yet? We're not troubling you are we?"

"Nah I doubt it" Joey interrupted patting Yugi's shoulder "If they had done the job already they would be home by now".

"Ah! That's true! So we're in time!"

"You guys!" Yami shouted to reclaim their attention "You shouldn't be here!"

"But we're to help!" Yugi smiled brightly as he stood up with Joey "We're going to be your partners!"

"Yeah, you don't think we'd sit in that dark tunnel while you're doing dangerous espionage on your own did ya?" Joey joked.

"N-No I just…it's too dangerous! You could get killed!" Yami tried to reason.

"But we're friends!" Yugi then grasped Yami's hands "And friends always stay together, right?"

Yami stared down at Yugi as he tried to churn out any reason for them to go back, however only one came through, and no matter how much he regretted it he pulled his hand out of Yugi's and glared at them.

"I'm not your friend!" He bellowed at them causing them to flinch at his harsh tone "I hate you! I wish I never met you! Now get out of here before I give you a reason!"

Yugi's ears fell flat to his head and cringed back towards Joey "I-I thought…w-we were friends…"

"You were wrong! Now get out of here!" Yami then reached out to push Yugi further away from him "Go on! Get lost!"

Tears spilled from Yugi's eyes as he gave a loud wail at Yami's hostility before running back into the woods, Joey watched Yugi run away before turning back to Yami, his own glare set on Yami.

"I knew we couldn't trust you!" He snarled "You backstabber!"

Joey then ran off chasing after Yugi leaving Yami to give a heavy sigh and regret the heated words he used, but he had to do something to make the two leave.

"Hey Yami" Yami turned to see Marik sit up and rub his tired eyes "If you're gonna be a jerk, can you do it quieter? Some of us are trying to sleep".

"Shut up Marik" Yami growled as he laid down on his bed to sleep, trying to forget that he ever said those words to Yugi and Joey.

* * *

Joey had managed to catch up with Yugi despite his faster speed compared to Joey, but with Yugi continuously crying his eyes became misty and hard to see where he was running, so every so often Yugi had to stop to wipe his eyes clean giving Joey the chance to grab his friend and pull him to a stop.

"Yug, don't cry" Joey soothed as he pulled Yugi into his arms "It's not worth it".

"B-But h-he was s-so m-mean to m-me…!" Yugi stammered through his tears as he buried his head in Joey's chest "I-I th-thought we were f-f-f-friends…!"

"Yeah, you and me both" Joey muttered but stroked Yugi's hair in an attempt to calm him down "But…maybe this is for the best yeah? You know that he's not really a nice guy after all; we'll go back home and pretend it never happened, we had a good life before he came right?"

Yugi gave a small sniffle but nodded "Y-Yeah…"

Joey gave a soft look to Yugi "I know he meant a lot to you" At those words Yugi turned his head trying to hide his blush "But that just proves he's not good for you, am I right?"

There was slight hesitation, but Yugi nodded anyway knowing that Joey had a point, especially after the outburst he had witnessed from Yami.

"Let's go back…I know the way" Joey put his arm around Yugi's shoulders; he waited a few moments for Yugi to clear up his tears before he began walking with Yugi in a direction that he hoped took them home.

The two walked around in the dark for hours, Joey trying to figure out the path they had taken while attempting to stop Yugi's tears, both however were not easy for him to do simultaneously and ended up with him losing the two in the woods.

Yugi gave a sniffle and looked around in the dark, barely making out the trunks of the trees in the night veil, he gave a perplexed look before turning to Joey "Are we…lost?"

Joey jerked at the question but brushed it away with a laugh "No of course not! This is a…uhh…shortcut! Yeah! We'll be home in no time!"

"Oh…okay" Yugi looked up to the clouded sky hearing a distant rumble echo around, he cringed into Joey's clothes "I hope that storm doesn't come our way…"

"Yeah, I don't want to be walking in the rain for long" Joey grumbled but continued to pull Yugi along "Hey, I see light".

Both gave confused looks to each other but preceded to the light with caution, hiding in the nearest bushes they thought was safe before looking on towards the soft glowing light. Large walls belonging to a palace guarded the main building tucked safely inside, the odd window gave the soft glowing lights out and occasionally shadows of guards walked through the bathing light. Stretched out in front of the wall was many graves, though their epigraphs were facing away from Yugi and Joey, they could tell that it was not normal for hundreds of graves to be placed by a palace.

"This place is creepy…" Yugi whispered hugging his arms "A-Are we in a graveyard?"

"I don't know" Joey whispered back looking around "Looks far too posh to be a graveyard".

Inside the mansion Lord Kichiro and a few of his trusted workers walked down the long and painfully sad corridor until they came to the only door in the corridor, Lord Kichiro opened the door and gazed into the bare room. Sitting in the centre of the room was a pedestal and lying on top of that was a large near black stone, it had been passed down in his family for generations though no one but him had figured out what it was used for, now it was going to be used for his plans.

He turned to the men who quickly set to work, adding the needed conductors to the stone and checking the gap in the ceiling as the dark clouds continued to rumble overhead.

A grin came to Lord Kichiro as he stepped closer, inspecting the new gem he had and what would become of it.

"Soon…I shall have an army that no one will be able to destroy" He gloated to himself, his fingers lightly touching the pedestal "And I will be crowned king…"

"My Lord, you should step away" One of his minions warned "Lightning could strike any time and who knows what damage you could receive".

He gave a small smirk but indeed heeded their warning and stepped back from the pedestal "Just make sure this works, or your heads will roll".

Outside Joey and Yugi eyed the storm for a few moments before Yugi turned to Joey, tugging on his arm to gain his attention.

"I don't like it out here Joey" Yugi whimpered "Can we leave?"

"Yeah sure" They were about to stand up but a loud roar cracked open the sky causing the two to collapse to the ground as a flash of bright light blinded the area.

"Joey!" Yugi cried and clung to his friend "I'm scared!"

"It's okay!" Joey tried to soothe and opened his eyes when the light had died down "That struck close…I think it's over now".

Just then another roar erupted and Joey watched as the lightning shot back up from the palace, splitting into several arms before they bounced onto the gravestones surrounding the area, the electricity seemed to soak into the stones and once absorbed bounced onto another headstone and repeated the action to every one until they had sucked in enough static. Soon the sound disappeared and only the distant rumble retreated back into the distance, Joey and Yugi sat dumbfounded by what had happened and looked around curiously as if to expect something to happen.

"What…happened?" Yugi queried.

"I'm not sure" Joey replied "But…I have a bad feeling about it".

"Yeah…" Yugi looked over to the graves and tilted his head "Something's…coming".

Just then a hand broke through the dirt of one of the graves causing Joey and Yugi to jump at the sudden action; however it was not like anything they had seen before. The hand was mere bones with the odd rotting flesh still clinging to its frame, the claw like fingers grasped onto the dirt and pulled the arm and the rest of the body out of its hole until it stood up. The person—if it would be called that—had little to no skin on its body and if it did it was a cold dead blue colour, the clothes had worn away leaving large holes and lifeless threads dangling on its skeleton and a weapon was gripped tight in its frail hands, and on closer look Yugi could make out the few maggots dropping off its body.

Several other graves had the same happen to them; their dead owners pulling themselves out of the graves and standing still in position, their hollow eyes staring at nothing in particular. Yugi and Joey quickly covered their mouths and noses when the disgusting scent of rotting flesh reached them, making them want to vomit and leave the area, however fear had kept them rooted to the spot.

"Wh-What's going on Joey?!" Yugi asked panicked but trying to keep his voice low.

"I-I don't know!" Joey answered "The lightning brought them all to life!"

As they watched the number of rising dead continue to grow they spotted a living man emerge from the entrance of the palace, he seemed pleased at the sight of the dead army and did not even cringe at the nauseating smell. He watched with glee for a few more dead bodies to rise before holding out the black stone, which had now glistened in waves of electric purple colours.

"I am your commander!" Lord Kichiro explained to the dead who lifted their heads at his voice "And now you shall do my bidding! Win my war and bring me greatness!"

"Win the war?" Joey repeated.

"Th-The one Yami's in!" Yugi exclaimed before his eyes widened "He's going to kill Yami with these things!"

"Sshh Yugi!" Joey hushed.

Lord Kichiro however had heard them and glanced over to the two hiding "What the…? Intruders! My soldiers!" He then pointed to them "Bring them to me!"

The skulls turned towards Yugi and Joey making a shiver run up their spine and finally push them to their feet, Joey grabbed Yugi's hand and pulled him along as he began to run through the woods, knowing that somewhere behind them they were being chased by the horrible smell and the raised dead.

"Joey I'm so scared!" Yugi wailed as he barely kept up with Joey "I don't want to die!"

"You're not gonna!" Joey tried to soothe before he stopped and looked back "Listen Yug, you go on ahead and I'll hold them off".

"No! No!" Yugi wailed clinging to his shirt "You won't stand a chance! Please Joey!"

"I rather it was me than you facing them!" Joey then pushed Yugi away "Go! Run now! I'll be fine!"

Yugi bit his lip as more tears fell down his face but under Joey's orders he turned and began to ran, not knowing where exactly he was going but he had to do what his friend said. Joey waited until Yugi had disappeared before turning around to see the dead soldiers coming through the forest path, Joey gave a growl before he turned to the nearest tree and snapped off a branch, holding it as his weapon in his hands.

"Alright, who wants a piece of me?" He threatened before charging at them.

* * *

"Yami! Yami please wake up!"

Yami gave a groan but looked over his shoulder when he had woken up to see Yugi kneeling by his side, immediately he sat up and glared at Yugi, thinking Yugi did not take him seriously the first time.

"I told you to go away!" Yami snarled.

"No you don't understand!" Yugi hiccupped as tears streamed down his face "T-They have Joey!"

Yami immediately dropped the fury act and replaced it with concern "Joey? Who have him?"

Yugi gulped as more tears streamed down his face "W-We found this place…a-and then the dead started to rise! A-And this man ordered them to get us! J-Joey stayed behind to stop them while I got away…it's all my fault!" Yugi then burst into a loud wail.

"Yugi" Yami held Yugi close, stroking his hair lightly to try and calm him down "Please stop crying, where was this? Do you remember?"

Yugi gave a small nod but continued to sob loudly into Yami's chest, Yami held Yugi tight to his body and tried to whisper soothing and reassuring words to calm him down, but deep down even Yami knew that it was his fault for trying to get Yugi and Joey to go back home and not Yugi's.

A yawn made Yami turn his head to see Marik sit up and rub his eyes "What's all this noise? Why is it impossible to sleep tonight?"

"Marik, someone took Joey" Yami explained while Marik stretched his arms "I think it might be Lord Kichiro".

Marik raised his brow at the name "Well that's a presumption there Yami, what would he want with Joey?"

"I don't know, but he is nearby and he's crazy enough to try and bring the dead back. We have to move now and get Joey back".

"I'm sorry, back up a little" Marik gave a little chuckle "Did you say…bring the dead back?"

Yugi nodded to the question "It was horrible, I could see right through them…and…they smelled…"

"So…we're going to…fight these things?" Marik then tilted his head "How do you fight the dead?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to get Joey back. Are you coming?"

"Oh well I suppose I can't let you have all the fun" Marik then turned to Bakura "Bakura I know you're awake, so you coming along?"

A sigh came from Bakura's body before he mumbled "I guess so…"

Yami then stood up bringing Yugi to his feet who looked up at Yami "Don't worry Yugi, we'll bring Joey back".

"You don't…hate us…do you?" Yugi asked quietly.

Yami stared down at Yugi before shaking his head and smiling "No, I don't. You mean the world to me".

Yugi's face blushed a little but with a smile he managed to wipe away the last of his tears and rest his head against Yami's chest, Yami cradled Yugi close and lifted his hands up to stroke Yugi's hair and ears, earning a small purring noise from the boy.

"Are you sure we're going to save Joey?" Yami turned his head to see Marik smirk even in the dark "Or just show off your strength?"

Yami gave a light blush but pushed Marik lightly "Shut up" He grumbled but decided to pick up his weapons and follow Yugi into the woods.

* * *

It took a while for Yugi to retrace his steps in the dark but soon he came to the right track and lead Yami, Marik and Bakura through the woods and to the palace. Once close enough the group hid by the shrubbery to look over the view, the dead stumbled around with their weapons drawn as they patrolled around the palace, their hollow eyes once again watching nothing in particular as they dragged their corpses around.

"You were right about the smell" Marik commented with a grimace "So how are we going to take this on?"

"There must be hundreds of them" Bakura looked from the other side of the tree "I doubt we'd all make it through…"

"If only there was a way to strike them down at the same time".

"T-There was lightning" Yugi turned to Yami to explain to him "It struck the building, a-and then it struck the graves and they began to rise then…m-maybe…that way…?"

Yami looked to Marik who shrugged his shoulders at the story "I've heard about harnessing whatsits, not that hard to believe".

"So…if there's something in there that's brought them to life, what do we do?" Yami queried.

"Well there's only one way to get rid of one" Marik then smirked "Smash it to pieces".

"But there's probably more of them on the inside" Bakura added turning to them "It would take all night to get through them all".

"Heh, maybe so" Marik twirled his necklace around his fingers before turning to Yami "So, Yami, how about me and Bakura distract these brainless guys out here and you find a way in to smash the…whatever it is in there?"

"You got it".

"Wh-What about me?" Yugi spoke up looking between the males.

"Yugi" Yami slipped his necklace off and held the jewel tight in his hands, after a few moments of concentration he held it out to Yugi "If you wear this it'll keep you invisible from everyone, stay here and keep safe, can you do that for me?"

"I…" Yugi looked to his hand before taking the necklace off him and nodding "Please…be safe".

"I will" Yami drew his sword and turned to Marik and Bakura "Alright, let's go!"

"Right behind you!"

Yugi watched as Yami ran out from hiding and into the mass of dead soldiers, Marik and Bakura held their necklaces until they too blended with the surroundings and followed Yami out, oblivious to the dead bodies walking around. Yugi looked down to the jewellery in his hands before he slipped it over his head, once it settled around his neck he watched his hands become one with the ground and he knew that he would never be seen, so sat silently and awaited his friends return.

As soon as Yami ran out into the crowd of staggering dead they quickly noticed that he was there, however due to their decaying legs they were much slower than Yami and he quickly passed through to the middle of the group. Yami held his sword out as he approached a soldier turning to him, ready to attack, but with one swift movement Yami's blade sliced through the rotting neck and took its head clean off.

Though his victory was short-lived as the headless body turned back to Yami and raised its sword, ready to attack Yami once again, he managed to block the assault with his sword but soon realised that the rest of the army was beginning to surround him cutting off any escape.

"They can't be killed" Yami muttered to himself as he tried to fend off the attacks from the closest enemies.

As Yami attempted to fight and chop away the dead bodies he noticed the flying knives strike deep into their weak shell of a skull, causing them to stumble slightly at the hit they had endured. Soon a gap broke between the corpses and Yami took the opportunity to run past them, ignoring their slowed attempts to capture him until he ran through the doors of the palace and shut the doors behind him to lock out the approaching soldiers.

"Hey did you hear something?" A voice questioned and footsteps approached Yami.

He gave a heavy sigh but took out his throwing knives and stepped into the corridor to see two guards approach him; swiftly Yami hurled the knives towards the men piercing their armour and leaving them to suffer their own slow death. Yami continued to run through the corridors, checking every door to see if it led to the rooftop but to no avail he only found more hostile enemies that he had to kill, and no access to the roof or sign of Joey anywhere. He began to feel hopeless at the lack of progress he made and he had begun to wonder how Marik and Bakura were doing with the zombies outside, his mind churning the fact the dead could not die again and that Marik and Bakura were only human, it looked to be a painful outcome for his friends. He attempted to push out any depressing thoughts as he continued to search the palace, knowing that if he gave up he would all doom them to a hellish death.

Yami barely skidded himself to a halt as he passed a balcony, jogging out onto it he looked down at the inner sanctum he had found, a peaceful garden with ponds and many paths leading to various places in the palace but it was not what he was looking for. Yami then looked up to the overhanging roof before he climbed up on the balcony wall, then jumping to the tiles he pulled his body onto the roof and barely got his balance together as he began to run over the roof.

He briefly looked over to the cluster of dead soldiers as they crowded around the invisible assassins, attempting to attack them but without knowing where they were their attacks fell on air and continued to puzzle them, Yami continued to hurry around on the roof until he came to the gap, with a perplexed look to the design he approached it and looked through.

Four guards stood around the pedestal that held the stone that pulsed with the coloured waves, Yami tilted his head at the odd item and questioned why it would be worth defending until it clicked together; this was the item that had raised the dead from their graves. Yami grabbed the small daggers attached to his waist before dropping through, landing perfectly on the pedestal he caught the guards off guard and quickly dispatched them, leaving their limp bodies to fall to the floor on their own.

Yami jumped down and turned to the stone, lightly putting his hands on it as he peered into the purple ocean swallowing the stone; it was such an odd item and one he had never seen before, there was a chance that he was mistaken but with his friends lives on the line, he was not about to wait patiently to figure out the answer.

Yami then frowned as he noticed the stone had a reflection and creeping up behind him was Lord Kichiro; he raised a sword as he approached Yami ready to strike the male down. Yami moved out of the way as he brought the sword down, hearing it hit the edge of the pedestal. Lord Kichiro gave a growl and turned to Yami as he tripped over one of the dead guards; he took the sword out of its groove and raised it towards Yami.

"I didn't think they were naïve enough to presume I'd die at the hands of an assassin" He spat at Yami "Well you're the last person that's going to kill me!"

"What have you done with Joey?!" Yami demanded as he stood to his feet.

"Hmm? The dog eared boy? He's my next project; I'll presume you have more for me".

"No way" Yami drew his sword out "You're going to give me Joey and then you'll die along with your joke of an army".

"Joke of an army?" He repeated with a small laugh "You have no idea what I'm capable of little boy".

Yami glared at Lord Kichiro and held his sword out "Try telling that to my sword".

Lord Kichiro gave a smirk and charged towards Yami, Yami held up his sword and managed to block his attack, ensuing a fight to break out between the two.

Outside the dead soldiers continued to fight despite Marik and Bakura easily slicing body appendages off including heads, arms and legs, only until they were just torso's moving back and forth on the ground. Marik turned to an approaching corpse and with a swift movement dug his dagger into its chest; it gave a low groan but proceeded to reach towards Marik, letting the dagger dig deeper and getting stuck in its bones.

"What does it take to kill these things?!" Marik growled as he tugged on his dagger until it broke free "We've done everything to them and they're still walking!"

"Have you tried cutting their feet off?!" Bakura retorted as he quickly faced a soldier that was going to stab him from behind, he sliced the head away and when the body continued towards him he kicked it away "Just keep going at them, we'll think of something sooner or later!"

Marik looked over his shoulder before his eyes widened "Bakura look out!"

Bakura turned just to see a rusty sword slash at his side; Bakura grasped his bleeding wound before toppling over and lying on the ground, hissing at the pain that spread from his side and looking up at the approaching soldier ready to finish Bakura off. But Marik quickly reacted and drove his sword through the skull before dragging it out, pulling the skull off with his force along the way, he then proceeded to puncture it multiple times and kick it severely until it laid in several small fragments of bone and cloth.

"No one gets away with stabbing Bakura while I'm here!" Marik barked and then continued to destroy the next soldier that came to close to him.

Bakura managed to turn himself onto his side but with the blood flowing freely from his wound there was little he could do without aggravating the pain "Marik just get out of here!" Bakura hissed as his hands grasped his wound "Leave me behind!"

"Screw you Bakura!" Marik backfired as he knelt by Bakura's side and hooked his arms under the male "I'm not leaving you for anything!"

"But there's no way you'll take them all on!" Bakura tried to reason as Marik dragged Bakura away from the threat and to the edge of the woods.

"Just try me!" Marik then left Bakura on his own as he ran to the nearest soldier and stabbed him through the skull again "If I'm going to die at least it'll be for you!"

Bakura watched Marik hack his way through the decaying bodies, making sure that every part of the body he fought against was left worthless and that they did not reach Bakura behind him, Bakura gave a groan as his wound sent a wave of pain through him he glanced towards the palace.

"Come on Yami…" He whispered to himself "What's taking you so long?"

Yami was forced up against the wall with his blade stuck between him and Lord Kichiro's blade; the two struggled to force the other off until Yami lifted his leg to kick Lord Kichiro in the stomach, the male grunted but was forced back allowing Yami to flee from his corner and turn to the stone that still rested on the pedestal.

"Oh no you don't!" Lord Kichiro growled as he swung for Yami, cutting his arm and causing Yami to stumble at the wound, before Yami could turn around to defend himself Lord Kichiro tackled Yami forcing him to the floor as he groaned from the brutal attack.

"You think you can hold this like I can? Ha!" He then walked over to the glowing stone, reaching out to it "I think I'll call my unbeatable army to dispose of you and whoever else is around here!"

Lord Kichiro then jumped back at the sight of the stone seemingly levitating on its own accord, he stared blankly at the stone before he drew his sword and held it out to it "What is the meaning of this?!"

A squeak came from the stone as it attempted to back away from Lord Kichiro's attempts to reclaim the stone, Yami sat up also perplexed at what was going on until he remembered that he had given Yugi his necklace, allowing him to be invisible to everyone around him. Yami ignored the flowing blood going down his arm and jumped to his feet, running to the door so he could throw it open.

"Yugi this way!" Yami called and ran out as the floating stone leapt over the pedestal and followed Yami out.

Yami occasionally looked back as they ran from sight, getting confused when he could not see Yugi and had to remind himself of Yugi's ability to disappear, they turned a corner and Yami pushed open the nearest door before pulling himself inside and the stone bouncing in after him. He slammed the door shut and briefly took his surroundings in, it seemed they had ended up in an empty kitchen, and that was a good enough hideout as anywhere else in the palace.

"Yugi what are you doing?!" Yami hissed.

Yugi took the necklace off so his body became visible and he turned to Yami smiling "I thought I'd be more use in here then out there" Yugi explained looking down at the stone in his hand "Is this…a bad thing?"

"Yugi it's not that I don't appreciate the help" Yami explained holding Yugi's shoulders "But this is dangerous, that man, Lord Kichiro, he could've killed you!"

"And you" Yugi backfired his eyes turning to Yami's wound "Would you like me to clean it up?"

"Huh?"

Yugi then held Yami's arm before letting his tongue out to lick away the blood, Yami stared down at Yugi as he seemed happy to lick up Yami's flowing blood until he shrugged his arm free from Yugi's grasp.

"Maybe later" Yami muttered "Right now we have to destroy that stone; it's what's making the dead rise".

"Oh…" Yugi stared down at it and his tail flicked "What about Joey…?"

"He's somewhere around here. Probably in a cell or something" Yami chewed his lip in thought for a few moments "Yugi, if you wear my necklace then you can go find Joey and together you have to destroy that stone while I distract Lord Kichiro, understand?"

Yugi nodded "But…won't he go after me?" Yugi queried remembering that he went after Yugi after he took the stone.

"Not necessarily" Yami walked over to a corner and beckoned Yugi to come closer "Come here".

Yugi's ears perked but did what Yami said and listened to the plan Yami had concocted. After a few moments of the two sorting themselves out Yami opened the door, he poked his head out and listened down the corridor hearing footsteps approach, he turned back to Yugi to see him slip the necklace over his head and turn his body invisible once again. Yami reached down to pick the bundle covered in a blanket before running out, the footsteps grew louder until Lord Kichiro appeared round the corner, his head turning to Yami when he spotted him.

"You want your precious stone back?" Yami taunted as he held up the bundle "Why don't you come and get it?"

"You little-!" Yami turned and ran down the corridor closely followed by Lord Kichiro who took the bait and ran away with Yami.

Yugi waited until it was silent before poking his head out of the kitchen as well, he checked the corridors to make sure there were no guards before carrying his own bundle and running in the opposite direction, hoping he would find Joey.

Yami was not sure where the corridors would take him, but he had to get as far away from Yugi as he possibly could, he ended up at a dead end with only an opening for a balcony to the inner gardens much like before. Yami turned to stand out on the balcony and waited for Lord Kichiro to appear, he was panting and glaring at Yami but persisted to walk closer with his sword raised and ready to attack.

"You better give that to me" He warned lowly as he raised his sword "You don't want to make me angry".

"You want it? Here" Yami through the bundle towards Lord Kichiro.

He scrambled to grab it but once it was in his arms he pulled back the blanket only to find it was a sack filled to the brim with different kinds of food "Wh-What?! Food!"

Yami then took out his sword and charged towards Lord Kichiro, catching the unsuspecting male and forcing him against the wall to start a new fight altogether.

Though they could hear the commotion outside two guards were given the order to stay by the prisoners door and to not let anyone in or out, so they stood to attention and kept their alert eyes on the corridors to make sure no one came their way, they then frowned as they saw a floating bundle came their way before stopping in front of them. They stared intently at it, wondering if they should attack or just leave it be.

"Is there a prisoner here?" Yugi's voice asked catching them into further confusion.

"Umm…yes?" One of them replied.

"Thanks!" Yugi then held the stone and with as much as force as he could, hit one of the guards on the head and rendering him unconscious, the other guards was standing confused until the stone struck him on the head and he too joined his friend on the floor.

Yugi looked down at them but simply pushed the door open and descended down the stairs, he looked around the cold looking jail before he came to the only occupied cell where a rather beaten Joey laid slump against the cell wall.

"Joey!" Yugi called out.

The blond lifted his head and looked out only to see a floating bundle "Err…hey?" Joey replied.

Yugi then reached down and slipped the necklace off so that he became visible and smiled to Joey "It's me! We've come to save you!"

"Yug!" Joey stood up and held the bars "Man, am I glad to see you!"

"Hold on a sec, I'll get you out" Yugi searched around the desolate jail but when seeing no keys he held tight to the stone again and smashed it against the lock, damaging it enough for it to break open and swing lifelessly towards him.

Joey took no hesitation on stepping out and turned to Yugi "Thanks man, we should get going".

"No, no" Yugi shook his head and pulled off the blanket covering the stone "Yami wants us to destroy this, if we do all the dead people will be gone!"

"Destroy it?" Joey observed it closely before darting back into the cell and returning with two large stones in his hands "Let's use these! I was gonna use them to dig a hole out".

"Good idea Joey!" Yugi took one of the rocks and set the vigorously glowing stone down on the floor, the two then flexed their arms and fingers around the chosen stones before they raised them up and brought them down, though no mark was barely made on the gem they continued to attack it in the hope that soon they would break through its rough skin.

They continued hacking away at the stone until a chip was made, the pulses were more constant when it had been damaged showing that it was in pain, however Yugi and Joey did not stop and aimed their hits into the chip growing it in size and wearing it down. After a few hard hits to its body the stone cracked, the line split right down its body and the colours now swirling and bubbling in its shell, Yugi lifted his stone up before smashing it back into the gem finally splitting it in two.

A tremendous roar split from the gem as a bright light filled the room and the floor below them began to shake under the strain.

Marik was still attempting to fight off the corpse soldiers even though he was becoming exhausted to fight back, but he occasionally looked behind him to see the injured Bakura still lying on the ground as he grasped his side, his skin growing paler with each passing moment he lost blood. Marik panted heavily as sweat ran down his forehead, he looked around at the dead army still closing in on them. He picked up his sword again and lunged at the approaching soldier who had raised his sword at Marik, but with one easy swing the zombie swiped Marik's sword clean out of his hands as it came to a clash on the ground, Marik bit his lip as he backed up before falling to his knees beside Bakura and grasped his bleeding hand.

"I'm sorry Bakura" Marik apologised as they looked up at the closing in zombies "I did my best".

"Shut up you moron" Bakura growled before wincing at the pain "You did all you could've done".

They looked up as one of the soldiers stood in front of them and held the sword up above his head, ready to strike them both down.

Then the ground shook violently with a roar that followed it out of the palace, Marik held tight to Bakura as the trees around them rustled at the ground shaking, it lasted for a few moments before silence fell over them. Scared and confused Bakura and Marik opened their eyes and looked up at the soldiers that had remained motionless at the apparent earthquake, then there was a snapping like noise and they noticed that faint crack like lines appeared in the skulls and bones of all the soldiers until they crumbled to the ground, only dust and the odd fragment laying deceased on the ground was all that remained that they had ever existed.

Yami held out his sword as Lord Kichiro made a swipe for him again, their swords made a clang noise as they hit each other and once again the two were locked in a battle of strength, trying to knock the other on his feet so they could strike. Even though Yami tried his best to stand his ground his feet ended up backing up and he found himself being pushed out into the balcony, he was pushed over the wall and the blades were pushed near to the skin of his neck.

"You're not so strong are you?" Lord Kichiro tormented as he forced his sword to push closer to Yami's neck "And soon no one will be able to stop me!"

Just then an ear splitting roar erupted from the palace and the walls began to shake, Yami panicked thinking it was an earthquake but took opportunity of the distraction and pushed Lord Kichiro away while he too panicked about the unsettling vibrations, he looked up as Yami ran towards him and tried to strike him down but Lord Kichiro held up his sword to once again halt Yami's actions. With a smirk Yami let one hand reach to his side to grab his dagger and with one swift movement, he plunged the blade deep into Lord Kichiro's side.

He gave a gasp and immediately let go of his sword as he fell to his knees, grasping his bleeding side, he then looked up at Yami who pocketed his dagger and held tight to his sword, bringing the final blow across Lord Kichiro's neck. His body fell lifelessly to the floor as it painted to a red colour of blood, Yami stayed stationary for a few moments just to make sure the job had been done before he gave a sigh of relief and also fell to his knees, he panted heavily to catch his breath back and look around cautiously as he pondered what the noise and earthquake was about.

Marik and Bakura looked out onto the desolate land where the many bodies of forgotten soldiers laid, they were left confused at what had happened but presumed that Yami would return to them and fill them on the details so they waited patiently, Bakura had ended up panting to keep up with his wound before he looked down to his bloody hand that Marik gripped.

"Hey Marik…" The blond turned to Bakura "Are you scared? You're squeezing my hand".

Marik gave a soft blush at the comment before turning his head stubbornly "You're squeezing my hand too you know".

"Marik!" The two looked up at Yami's familiar voice to see him running over, when Yami had come close enough his eyes widened when he made out Bakura's wound "Bakura! Are you alright?!"

"Just sweet" Bakura retorted as he let go of Marik to grasp his wound again.

"He'll be fine" Marik reassured "We just need to take him back now".

"Marik, don't you dare pick me up" Bakura warned but Marik disregarded his warning and scooped him up in his arms, allowing his head to rest on Marik's shoulder "I hate you so much now".

"Me too" Marik retorted before turning to Yami "Come on, you can tell us the story on the way".

"Wait, Joey and Yugi are with you?" Yami asked.

"No…I thought they were with you".

"Oh no" Yami turned back to the palace "They still must be inside-!" Yami then cut himself off as he spotted two familiar furry creatures run out of the palace.

Yugi looked around surprised at the numerous dead bodies until he spotted Yami with Marik and Bakura, a wide smile spread over him as he ran over to him and Joey following behind "Yami!"

"Yugi! Joey!" Yami ran towards him and once they met in the middle Yugi leapt into Yami's arms, Yami hugged Yugi tight and spun him around a few times before stopping and pulling him tight into his arms "I'm so happy you're okay! I thought…I thought something bad had happened to you!"

"Nope!" Yugi lifted his head to giggle "We can't die! Not when it's so important to you!"

Yami chuckled until his eyes brimmed with tears and he could not help but allow a few loose tears roll down his cheeks "P-Promise me you'll never go running off again, okay?"

Yugi tilted his head but nodded "Okay, I promise" He then reached up to place his lips against Yami's.

Yami felt his cheeks flare up at the affectionate kiss from Yugi and even stumbled back out of embarrassment, but after a while Yami gently closed his eyes and kissed Yugi back, finally giving in to temptation and allowing himself to enjoy the moment.

"Excuse me!" Yami broke the kiss and turned to Marik "While you're smooching your lover, mine is bleeding to death here!"

"Sorry Marik!" Yami apologised but held Yugi's hand "Err…let's continue later okay?"

"Okay!" Yami pulled Yugi along and the group ran back through the woods, hoping that they reached home in time "I love you Yami" Yami managed to hear through their running.

Yami once again turned into a pink colour but replied with "I love you too Yugi".

* * *

Yami returned home one summer afternoon, he gave a sigh and rolled his shoulders back as he tried to rid himself of the aching he had to endure as he followed the mountain trail, he gave a groan as there was no success in ridding the feeling but smiled when he saw the glimpse of his home within the tree leaves.

Once close enough he could make out Yugi sitting at the back of the house enjoying the sunlight, Yugi's ears perked and he looked to the woods to see Yami giving a wave as he trudged through the woods.

"Yami's back!" Yugi exclaimed as he jumped onto his feet and ran to Yami, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him into a lengthy kiss.

Yami returned the kiss with his own before breaking away "Hey I missed you. Have you been good?"

Yugi nodded before smiling sweetly "Marik and Bakura have been teaching us how to climb".

Yami stared blankly at him "Climb?" He repeated.

"Yo Yami!" Yami looked up before feeling his stomach sink, sitting on the roof was Marik and Bakura and Joey, though Joey looked more like he was trying to stay on for his life rather than the other two who were used to climbing on roofs "Enjoy your trip?"

"Marik! Bakura!" Yami spat as he glared at the two "What have I told you doing this stuff with them!?"

"Well if that's how you want it to be" Marik and Bakura stood up with smirks before they jumped off, leaving a panicking Joey on his own to figure his way down, they chuckled but ran off before Yami could scold them on their actions.

"Dear god…" Yami muttered but left Yugi's embrace to help Joey get down without injuring himself, and he was sure another exciting daily life was going to happen—and more chasing Bakura and Marik away.

* * *

This is one long ass one shot…those drugs did some good I think.

Anyway, thanks for reading and happy birthday to any.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!


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